Weekend B.O. Aug. 22-24 (Was This Trip Really Necessary?)

Weekend B.O. Aug. 22-24 (Was This Trip Really Necessary?)

Maybe I wasn’t
paying attention, but was there some sort of insatiable demand for another “Sin
City” movie?

The first
one released in 2005 wasn’t what one would call a huge box office smash, but it
did make a profit and was a genuine visual stunner. But unless I’m mistaken, it
never even developed any sort of massive cult following.

But after nine years, The Weinstein Co. thought it was a good idea (or a desperate one) to make another one with Frank
Miller and Robert Rodriquez behind the camera, and this time in 3D. The
problem is that no one was really interested in seeing it.

True that
these are, as I said in my box office report last week, the dog days of summer
of late August and early September when studios usually dump films they feel
are of questionable box office interest. But “Sin City: A Dame to Kill For” was
thought to do, at least, reasonably well this week.

It didn’t by
a long shot.

Grossing under
$6.5 million in 8th place, the
$70 million budgeted film is looking to
be the biggest financial flop so far in Weinstein Co. history. Though the
somewhat good news is that the company did not finance the film totally by
itself, but through a group of separate investors and production companies. Though none of them can be too pleased at the results, and for sure there isn’t
going to be another “Sin City” movie ever again.

The film got
beaten by an $11 million sappy teenage romance, “If I Stay,” which came in second
with $16 million. But the real surprise is the resurgence of “Guardians of the
Galaxy.” The film roared
back into first place with just under $18 million this weekend and almost $252
million to date, and it’s nearing the half billion mark worldwide. It seems that
what was being called “Marvel Films’ biggest gamble” is paying off for them.

Meanwhile, “The Expendables 3” is completely out of gas. The very modestly budgeted “Let’s Be
Cops” has turned into a genuine late summer sleeper hit, and Richard Linklater’s
film “Boyhood” is the biggest grossing art house release so far this year.